


and this is us in 2080

by canterofmysinnings



Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [23]
Category: Take That (Band)
Genre: 2080, Christmas Dinner, Double Date, F/M, Fiance/fiancee, Flying Cars, Happy Ending, Health scans, Horror/Suspense (but no blood), Howard is being his usual self, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous outburst (R), Lost engagement ring (oops!), M/M, Planning a marriage (R/G), Restricted Movement, Romantic Fluff, Science Fiction, Water allergy, alcohol mention, antidote, rooftop, techology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canterofmysinnings/pseuds/canterofmysinnings
Summary: In this chapter, things are very different from today's world. The year is 2080, and technology has evolved with the speed of light.Gary (47) and Robbie (44) have known each other for half their lives, and are in a steady relationship. Things are serious and well shaping up to the next big step on the ladder of life, marriage... When something in Gary and Robbie's world is changed around. Robbie begins displaying unusual symptoms, which quickly takes a toll on the relationship between the two men. Their relationship is in danger. Will they be able to save it?
Relationships: Elis Courtney/Oliver Layne, Emma Owen/Mark Owen, Gary Barlow/Robbie Williams, Jason Orange/Howard Donald
Series: Barlliams Songfic Challenge 2018-2020+ [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926196
Kudos: 2





	and this is us in 2080

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 23 of my Transfer from Wattpad series, as well as my year-long Barlliams Songfic challenge.  
> Originally published at: 31/07/2018  
> Originally inspired by the song: Man Machine

**2080 (AU with 2018 ages, Robbie = 44, Gary = 47)**

"Hello, gentlemen. Please provide valid identification to be let into the rooftop area." a woman in grey spoke with in cool, authoritative voice.   
Robbie and Gary looked at each other as they both bared their wrists to reveal a bending screen like a wristband. It didn't touch their wrists, but floated, emitting a plethora of bright light.   
The woman scanned their entry passes with a handheld device and granted them access, which made the digital wristbands light green.   
They stepped through the gate and quickly scanned the surroundings.   
It was a private rooftop party to celebrate a recent breakthrough in science - it was now possible to reverse aging in any living creature.   
Cyborgs as well as humans were scattered around the party site, comfortably lounging. A tall, blonde woman in a purple dress with glowing eyes played a holographic piano.   
Gary clung into the taller Robbie for protection as he felt a little intimidated.   
Robbie strolled arm in arm with Gary onto an automated bar machine to get a drink.   
Oblivious to the fact that there ever existed anyone else besides his significant other, Robbie turned to Gary.   
"What do you want to drink, love?" Robbie asked lovingly, his arm possessively around Gary's life.   
"Lemon water, please." Gary purred into Robbie's ear. He then proceeded to take off his coat, as the temperature on the top of the skyscrapers still was comfortable despite the setting sun.  
Robbie held his digital wristband to a scanner in the automatic bar and it pulsed blue as it transferred digital currency for the drink. He also ordered something for himself.   
A rum like drink called Gasoline Glaze.   
In a matter of seconds the drinks were ready and Robbie picked them up.   
"Here. Let's find a table to relax by."

Robbie and Gary strolled around a bit before finding the perfect place with a flawless view of the setting sun.   
The sky was a beautiful gradient of blues, purples and pinks just like a Bob Ross masterpiece. Each cloud appeared delicate like a candyfloss on a summer day.   
Gary changed his wristband from being inactive to lighting royal blue. Robbie changed his hue to a rich yellow.   
Gary took a sip of the lemon water and marveled at the refreshing feeling.   
Robbie tasted his drink as well and was pleased with the experience.   
Gary picked up on Robbie's approval. "Do you like it?"   
Robbie smiled enamored at his partner. "Yes, very much. So you want to taste?" Robbie slid his glass across to table to Gary. Gary picked up the glass hesitantly.   
He sniffed to the glass. "How much alcohol is in this?" He asked warily.   
"None, don't worry. I had a hunch you wanted to taste so I got one without alcohol."  
Gary blushed at Robbie's thoughtfulness. "Thank you. I'm going to give it a try."  
Gary put the cocktail glass to his lips and tasted a bit.   
He then choked up and coughed, which developed into an awkward grin. "It's sure strong for something alcohol free!" Gary laughed. "I don't know how you can take it!"   
"Guess it seals the deal then!" Robbie chuckled as Gary returned the glass to Robbie. "I like it. It tastes nice."  
In the same instant, Gary and Robbie was joined by two of their friends.   
Gary, who sat in the opposite direction of Robbie, noticed them first and alerted Robbie.   
"Babe, we have company. Oliver and Elisabeth. Do you want to change seats...?"   
The four friends looked bewildered at each other before Gary moved to the seat next to Robbie beside the four person table.  
Oliver and Elis sat down opposite them, Elis sitting where Gary previously sat.   
"Hi!" Gary claimed excitedly. "Didn't expect to see you here - what a lovely surprise!"   
Robbie nodded in a friendly manner.   
"I thought you two was a pair of quiet reflection and not the life of the party." Robbie joked.   
Elis sipped her green tea and removed her sunglasses to sit in her hair. "We thought we needed to try something out of the ordinary." She smiled as Oliver took her hand.   
Robbie responded by pressing a light kiss to Robbie's temple. Elizabeth and Oliver were unaffected.   
"Any news we've missed since we last spoke?" Oliver smiled, consuming a snack of cheese.   
Robbie smirked. "You bet. Two days ago, our jetty car broke down. That was terrifying. In the middle of one of Manchester's most travelled roads. We were picked up by one of these yellow service air ships. So embarrassing."  
"Oh, no way!" Elis exclaimed. "I'm so sorry to hear that."  
Gary smiled. "Don't worry. It's alright now."   
As Oliver and Elis finished their food and drink, they got up from the table. Robbie stopped them in the last moment.   
"Wait, guys. Look at the gorgeous sun! Let us take a picture together."  
Elis and Oliver shuffled back to their seats and Gary changed places with Robbie as Robbie opened the camera of his wristband Swiss-knife gadget.   
The camera clicked multiple pictures automatically and then deleted the ones who turned out bad. Robbie showed the three others and they were all satisfied.   
"Great!" Oliver cheered. "Me and Ella want to dance now, so we'll see you later." Je concluded.   
Robbie and Gary said goodbye to them and sat alone by the table again next to each other.   
Gary intertwined his his fingers with Robbie's on the table.   
They looked at the sun which had almost completely set, leaving the party guests in mellow darkness.   
Futuristic slow-beat love songs could be heard from the dancing area.   
Gary leant his head on Robbie's shoulder.   
"You know what would be perfect right now?" Gary asked lovingly.   
"No, what is it?" Robbie smirked at his lover.   
"Dipping into a hot pool." Gary dreamily suggested, breathing the thin air.   
"Mmmm." Robbie smiled and held Gary's face.   
He was generally a fan of the idea, but internally, he wasn't too keen.   
Robbie remembered that this morning, when he war talking a shower, it hurt. It was like the water was painful. Not a lot, but it still hurt, which had confused Robbie a lot.   
He was secretly loathing dipping into the pool - what if the salty water would make it worse?   
Nevertheless, he decided to please Gary by giving it a try. After a cleaning pre-pool shower, they were ready to try out the pool.   
Gary was first into the pool, practically throwing himself in.   
As his body was enveloped by the warm water, Gary let out a small moan.   
Robbie sat by the pool, hesitating. Gary was looking at him with a questioning face. Before long, he was wet from head to toe.   
As much as the sight excited Robbie, a strange phobia was holding him back.   
Holding the bars of the pool, he put the tip of his toe in and closed his eyes.   
Nothing happened. He slowly let himself down into the water, hyperfocusing on any changes.   
Unaffected, Robbie started to let go. He swam to Gary and embraced him as they kissed against the pool side.   
Gary broke away and decided to play around with Robbie, splashing him with the hot pool water.   
Robbie quickly avoided it and splashed back on Gary.   
Gary laughed loudly.   
In that same instant, Robbie felt something was wrong.   
An intense burning and itching started at the bottom of his body and moved towards his heart.   
He gasped for air as he pulled himself up again.   
A group of cyborgs started to stare with their glowing eyes and edged away from the scene.   
Gary hurried to Robbie's side.   
"Robbie, Robbie... Is something wrong?" Gary frowned in worry. "Are you ill?"  
Gary moved Robbie away from the scene and dried him with a towel in the changing room away from water.   
Slowly but surely, Robbie recovered.

*****

Weeks after the pool incident, things were more or less back to normal.   
At least it seemed so from the outside.   
Robbie's sensitivity to water had only increased and he was now forced to resort to water free drinks and cleaning methods.   
Robbie realised it was only a matter of time before Gary realised something was off.   
As he woke up feeling grimy, he headed to the kitchen for the fridge. He needed two cans of milk to shower in.   
Robbie hoped that Gary was distracted elsewhere, but unfortunately, he was sat in the middle of the kitchen, browsing recipes using his wristband as display on the surface of the kitchen table.   
Robbie swore to himself as he opened the fridge and carefully took out two cans of soy milk. Hiding them as good as possible, he tried to get out of the kitchen before his guilt kicked in.   
However, his stress made him stumble and almost fall to the floor, leaving the cans rolling across the kitchen tiles.   
Robbie sunk to the floor as if the life drained out of him.   
Gary immediately turned off the display and changed the settings in his wristband to pulse red for a quick emergency call if it became necessary.   
"Robbie... Oh no. Can you hear me?" Gary lifted Robbie's face so that he could check if Robbie was okay.   
Robbie nodded. "I'm okay, I was just going to shower." He pointed at the cans of milk.   
Gary looked from the milk to Robbie, struggling to make a connection between the two things.   
"Shower? With two litres of milk?" Gary chuckled. "That doesn't make any sense." Gary looked concernedly at Robbie.   
"Yes it does." Robbie nodded. "Water hurts me. Do you remember the pool?"

Gary thought for a while, then grimaced.   
"I do." He said, unsure of what Robbie was going to do now.   
He turned off the emergency option on his wristband and turned on the body scanner instead, a special option which had been granted him access as he had taken a couple of weeks studying by a professional health care course.   
"Do you think you might be allergic to water?" Gary said with worry in his voice.   
"I don't know." Robbie dismissed. "It would make sense if I was. Can you scan me?"   
"Yes. Please sit properly, like this..."   
Gary adjusted his partner's posture as he grabbed Robbie's wrist gently and scanned Robbie's pulse.

"Hmm." Gary entered a state of deep focus as he read Robbie's vital signs.   
He then turned it off temporarily.   
"Your pulse is a bit higher than the normal range, probably because you're stressed, yes?" Gary asked.   
"Mmm-hmm." Robbie confirmed as his pupils dilated in distress.   
Gary moved the body scanner up Robbie's arm and to his face and chest.   
Downwards still, the scanner didn't say as much as a single beep as nothing malicious was found inside Robbie's body.   
Gary turned the wristband off entirely with the conclusion that nothing must've been wrong.   
"What is wrong with me? Robbie sulked, his green eyes darkening with worry.   
Gary caressed Robbie's face as he felt Robbie's despair.   
"Nothing, babe. You need to trust me when I say there is nothing wrong with you. This application I scanned you with, you got to know that it's the créme de lá créme of healthcare. It doesn't get better than this. If this app says there's nothing wrong with you, then it means you are perfectly healthy. Please believe me." Gary embraced his lover and nuzzled into his neck.   
In the same instant, Gary's health scanner turned on again.   
"Anxiety detected. Please take the necessary precautions to avoid health problems. Anxiety detec-"   
Gary hurriedly pressed cancel and smiled awkwardly at Robbie. "I'm sorry."  
"It's okay." Robbie said, staring at his feet.   
Gary wrapped a protective arm around Robbie.  
"You can take a shower in milk, okay? I'll go buy something for you so you don't have to worry about being exposed to water."  
Robbie smiled a tired smile at his lover.   
"Thank you so much. I don't know what I would do without you, Gaz."  
Gary's body fluttered in joy as he heard the loving words.   
"I love you." Gary cuddled into Robbie by the kitchen counter on the floor.   
"I love you too." Robbie smiled, as Gary reassured him.

*****  
Even more time passed by.   
Robbie and Gary both had gotten used to their new, water-less life-style.   
A passerby would never be able to tell that something were off with the way they lived.   
It was an December evening, with snow peacefully falling.   
Robbie and Gary were preparing for a night out to celebrate with five others of their friends. Near Christmas, they carried gifts to give out in advance as the weather forecast for Christmas said heavy snowfall, unsuitable for flying.   
"Are you ready?" Gary asked Robbie.   
"Yes Gaz, are you?" Robbie asked back, grabbing the keys to their flying car.   
"Yep, I'm ready to go. I carry the gifts, you drive?" Gary smirked.   
"That's right."  
Robbie nodded and with these words the pair quietly walked downstairs to the basement of their flat, containing their flying car. By now, everyone had a flying car in their flat. Owning a house on the ground was considered odd, and very few people lived on the ground.   
Robbie pressed a button which opened the gate to the outside world. He gestured to Gary to get in. He secured that the software was up to date, running a scan with the 12G connection in their flat.   
Then he turned on everything. The flying car started to hum as a shield of supersonic glass covered their heads. They were ready to go.   
Gary pulled out his wristband and requested that a digital tablet emerged on the surface of the airbag.   
The light turquoise rays the projecting tablet was made of made Gary uncomfortable in the dark. A snap with his fingers put the tablet in night mode, as the tablet glowed orange.   
He opened the text message application.   
Without his fingers ever touching the surface the tablet was projected on, Gary wrote a message to his friend that they were arriving soon. The friend was a guy called Mark, who recently moved in with his girlfriend. Common friends of the couple, Howard and Jason, were also supposed to be there to a dinner and the gift exchange.

As Robbie and Gary arrived to the right flat, they were met by a coded gate.   
With help from Gary, Robbie sent the identification number from their vehicle to the door lock, which asked for a nine number code.  
Gary received the code in an instant.   
As Robbie steered the flying car into the basement of Mark's flat, Gary's tablet immediately connected to Mark's Wi-Fi, but Gary stopped the projection out of politeness. As the levels of oxygen adjusted, the shield of glass rolled back.   
Mark heard the noise and Gary and Robbie heard noise as Mark and his girlfriend greeted them.   
"Hellooooo!" Mark called out happily. "Merry early Christmas, my friends! Make yourself feel at home, please."  
Mark hugged Gary and then Robbie to greet them. They walked from the basement into Mark and Emma's hallway, where they took off their shoes.

"You're going to like this. We have music, snacks..." Mark gestured around the room. Emma was in the kitchen, and Mark soon joined her.   
Inside the living room, Jason and Howard were sat next to each other. Jason was strumming on a guitar, Howard read the latest news.   
"Hi guys. Nice to meet you."  
Jason smiled at them, and Howard looked up from his news. "Hello Robbie, hello Gary."  
Robbie and Gary sat down across the pair as an awkward silence settled.   
Neither of the couples knew exactly what to talk about.   
Jason started strumming again, which made the silence a little less threatening.   
Gary unloaded the gifts for everyone on the gift table.   
Mark chipped in and said that dinner was ready.

As they sat by the table with music playing in the background, Gary noticed that there was an extra plate on the table.   
"What's this for?" Gary pointed at the plate.   
Mark took a sip of the Christmas wine.   
"Oh that? We're having my wife's friend Dawn over for dinner. I should have told you, sorry. Don't worry, she's very sociable."

As time went on, it seemed that Dawn was getting late.   
The couples around the table chatted happy with each other and eventually, the chat developed to be about relationships.   
Mark and Emma eyed each other happily.   
"Em and I are trying for a baby." Mark happily confessed, and Emma giggled.   
Gary gasped in surprise. "What a lovely thing to know! Congratulations, good luck!"   
Jason cleared his throat now. "Yeah, about that. How and I are having our 100 dates anniversary in two days." Jason blushed. "We are going to eat at the finest restaurant in the country to celebrate."  
Gary cheered them on while Robbie looked a bit uncomfortable.   
"What about you, Gary and Robbie?" Mark courteously asked. "How is your relationship going?"   
Gary folded his napkin neatly.   
"We are considering to take the next step and get married." Gary looked at Robbie.   
"But it's a big deal with many things to consider, so we aren't sure about venue or entertainment yet."  
Robbie's face was briefly one of approval before he spaced off again.   
"Great, be sure to keep us posted!" Howard smiled at Gary and Robbie.

As silence settled once again, footsteps approached from the hallway.   
A woman with a blonde pixie and a silver/gold dress emerged in the door.   
"Hi, Dawn here. Any chance I can come in?" The woman joked.   
Gary figured that this woman must've been Dawn.   
He looked at her wristband. It was beautiful and lava lamp-eque purple with small flowing pearls of pink.   
"If you arrived any later, there wouldn't be any food left." Howard joked in his usual manner, poking fun at anyone. He picked up a potato chip with his fork, resulting Jason looking disapprovingly at him.   
"Hey Howard, that's not true!" Robbie complained.   
Howard furrowed his eyebrows. "What's with you today, Robbie? Of all people, you are usually the one to get my jokes the first!"   
Gary interrupted the two with a dismissive wave of the hand.   
"Relax, Howard. He's just tired, okay?" Gary said, drawing the attention of the newcomer Dawn. She smiled subtly at him.

Mark and Emma entertained Dawn while the rest of the guys moved into the living room. This night would be an awesome experience.

*****  
A couple of days later, Gary saw a flying car request access to their basement gate.   
He called for Robbie to handle it.   
"Robbie, will you take care of the incoming request? I think that's Dawn."  
"Dawn?" Robbie asked, getting up from the kitchen table.   
"We spent a night with her at Mark's."  
"Ahh right. Good." Robbie walked to the hallway where he pushed some buttons to ask for two-factor authentication.   
Gary walked into the hallway as well.   
Dawn parked her car and walked to the door.   
Robbie let her in.   
"Hello. I thought I'd drop by for a while. I have something from the party that I think you forgot to pick up again... This."  
Dawn opened a small black box to reveal a golden ring.   
Gary gasped and promptly looked at his fingers. He didn't miss his ring. But did Robbie have his...   
Gary looked and saw that Robbie's engagement ring wasn't there anymore.   
"Robbie... Robbie! Dawn has your engagement ring! How did it come off?!" Gary exclaimed.   
Robbie stared at his hands with am expressionless face.   
"I don't know." He said, slowly as a child saying a word for the first time.  
Gary suddenly had a hunch.   
Turning on his health scanner, he scanned Robbie's hand where the ring had slid off.   
And sure, the system showed him that Robbie's skin had changed from the last scan. Robbie's fingers had become thinner and smoother.   
Gary turned to Dawn and asked for the black box.   
"Thank you so much for helping us out. We've been so tired the last few days we didn't even notice. Can I offer you anything? Coffee, tea?"   
Dawn nodded humbly. "I could do with a coffee."  
"Good. Please give me a minute."  
Gary led Robbie into the master bedroom.   
Carefully tucking him in, Gary was increasingly worried for Robbie's health.   
He went back to the kitchen to chat to Dawn.   
The chat felt shallow and as a ridiculous distraction from Gary's reality.   
As Dawn was leaving, Gary was alarmed to hear stiff, heavy footsteps coming from the bedroom and into the kitchen and hallway.   
Gary saw Robbie come closer.   
Robbie looked like he was struggling. He walked as a toddler in a grown man's body or staggering like a drunk person.

As Robbie saw Gary next to Dawn, he let out a shriek that didn't sound as human as it sounded like a robot.   
Gary was shell-shocked and stopped in his tracks.   
Dawn panicked and hurried out.   
"What do you think you're doing with that woman?! You should know that you're mine, mine alone!" Robbie blubbered, his voice metallic and intruding.

Gary hurriedly pulled out his wristband and was about to put it in emergency mode as his health scanner demanded attention.   
It beeped in Robbie's direction, but not when he held it against himself.   
Gary collected himself and made contact with Robbie's skin on a place where the skin was thin to get the best result.   
Robbie groaned in a disturbing, distorted manner which nearly traumatised Gary for life.   
Gary managed to hold down his fiancé in time for the health app to diagnose.   
He looked at the display.

_The brain of the scanned individual has been taken over by a malicious parasite. Bad strings of code are controlling the individual's brain. Please apply antidote._

Gary thanked his lucky stars that he had a lot of experience with healthcare as he restrained Robbie, finding the antidote in a medicine drawer. He popped out the green/gold pill and put it in a glass of milk. Then he quickly put the glass to Robbie's lips.   
Robbie drank the milk as a reflex and downed the pill as well.

Gary could almost convinced himself that he could see changes in Robbie's eyes and the antidote took effect.   
After five minutes, Robbie appeared completely normal again, although rather confused.   
Gary ran another scan, which didn't find anything.   
"Ga- Gaz? Why are you holding pills?!" Robbie asked, still letting the brainfog.   
Gary laughed knowingly.   
"Your brain was hacked by a malicious string of code and you almost strangled me."  
Robbie's eyes widened. "Sounds like something from a bad dream!" Robbie shook his head, pouring up a glass of water for himself.   
Gary watched closely as Robbie drunk it with no hesitation.   
"You bet it felt like it."  
Robbie put the glass in the dishwasher and then turned to Gary.  
"You know that I would never knowingly hurt you. Ever."  
Robbie embraced Gary, wrapping his hands around him.   
"Just don't get hacked once more." Gary laughed, burying himself in his taller fiancée's chest.   
"Promise." Robbie swore, kissing Gary's forehead.


End file.
